Synthesis of the porphyrin-fused porphyrin, [2]porphyracene

A novel porphyrin-fused porphyrin is formed by an oligomerization reaction of a (porphyrinato)nickel complex with TeCl4; the isolated compound, [2]porphyracene, was characterized by spectroscopic methods and direct observation using scanning tunnelling microscopy; the excitation energy value of 13460 cm(-1) (743 nm) is the lowest value reported for porphyrin dimers.